Moth Flight’s Vision

WindClan friend. Your loyalty is to me. Get down from there!”

“I’m a medicine cat,” Micah called back. “It’s my duty to cure cats.”

“It’s your duty to cure your Clanmates,” Clear Sky hissed.

“Not every cat you meet.”

Anger flared in Moth Flight’s belly. “We can’t let cats die, just because they belong to a different Clan!”

Clear Sky narrowed his eyes. “Are you telling me how to lead my Clan?”

“Someone needs to!” Moth Flight snapped. “You’re a fox-heart!”

Eyes flashing with rage, Clear Sky lashed out and raked her muzzle.

Shocked, she recoiled.

“Leave her alone!” Micah began to climb down.

“I will if she gets out of here,” Clear Sky snarled.

“Stay where you are, Micah!” Moth Flight dug her claws into the earth. She forced her mew not to tremble. “Rocky needs the sap. I can’t let him die.”

Brown fur showed at the top of the glade. Red Claw! Moth

Flight spotted him with a spark of relief. Perhaps he could talk some sense into his leader.

The SkyClan tom padded down the slope and stopped beside

Clear Sky. “Is WindClan trying to start another fight?” His gaze swept Moth Flight, cold with disdain. The hope Moth Flight had felt at his arrival dimmed.

Above, a branch shook. “I’m coming down!” Micah called.

“No!” Moth Flight ignored the fear sparking beneath her pelt. “Rocky needs the bark.” She narrowed her eyes, glaring defiantly at Clear Sky. “You can do what you like to me. I’m not leaving.”

Red Claw glanced uneasily at Clear Sky. “She’s hardly more than a kit.”

“There’s no need to hurt her.” Clear Sky lifted his gaze to Micah. “Stop him from getting the bark. She can return to her camp, but she’ll go with empty paws.”

Red Claw nodded and raced for the tree. Leaping, he clung to the bark and pulled himself onto the first branch.

“Watch out, Micah!” Moth Flight wailed. “Red Claw’s coming!”

A growl rumbled ominously in Clear Sky’s throat. “I knew I should never have taken him in.”

Moth Flight blinked at him. “But he cured your kit!”

“Acorn Fur could have cured Tiny Branch.”

“No she couldn’t!” Moth Flight spat back. “She knew nothing about healing until Micah came and taught her.”

Clear Sky’s gaze didn’t move from the tree. He was watching Red Claw scramble through the branches. Micah was still climbing, close to the top now.

Moth Flight’s chest swelled with rage. “You’re lucky to have a cat like Micah in your Clan!” she growled. “He’s the bravest and cleverest cat I’ve ever met.”

“You’re the clever one,” Clear Sky snarled. “You’re here, with your paws safely on the ground. He thinks he’s got wings.”

Moth Flight lifted her chin. “You’ve never given him a fair chance!” she growled. “He left his friends to help your Clan, and you treat him like a prisoner! You’ve made Acorn Fur spy on him! I wish he’d leave you and join WindClan!”

Clear Sky turned on her. “No one leaves my Clan without permission!”

Brambles trembled at the top of the slope. Willow Tail burst out, her pelt bushed. “What’s going on here?” She bounded down the slope, pushing herself between Moth Flight and Clear Sky.

Clear Sky stared at her. “Another WindClan cat! Can’t you smell boundaries?”

Willow Tail nudged Moth Flight away and faced the SkyClan leader. “I was worried about Moth Flight when I smelled her trail cross the border. I wanted to make sure she was okay.”

“I’m fine,” Moth Flight told her. “It’s Micah who’s in trouble.” She nodded toward Red Claw, who was only a few tail-lengths behind Micah. “He’s trying to stop Micah from getting the bark we need to cure Rocky!”

Willow Tail’s eyes blazed with anger. “Red Claw! I might have known. He was trouble when we were rogues together and he’s still trouble now.” Pelt bushing, she raced for the tree and scooted up it, as nimble as a squirrel. Leaves showered down as she scrambled up the trunk.

As she disappeared among the leaves, a lower branch trembled and Micah stuck his head out. A long strip of bark hung from his jaws. Scrambling onto the next branch down, he leaped for the trunk and dropped tail-first toward the ground.

Landing lightly, he hurried toward Moth Flight and laid the bark at her paws. It glistened in the sunshine, sap oozing from its flesh. “I got it!”

Delight fizzed beneath her pelt. “Thank you!” She pressed her nose against his cheek.

Clear Sky hissed. “How dare you!” Tail lashing, he kicked the bark away.

“No!” Moth Flight leaped after it, trying to rescue it before leaf litter soiled the precious sap.

Clear Sky faced Micah, ears flat. “I actually believed that you might become one of the Clan,” he spat. “But you can’t be trusted.” His gaze flicked to Moth Flight. “How can you steal for WindClan?”

“It’s not stealing!” Micah faced him. “Herbs belong to all cats.”

A screech sounded above them.

“Murderer!” Willow Tail’s cry rang out across the forest.

“Thief!” Red Claw shrieked back.

High up, the leaves exploded around the fighting cats.

Micah jerked his muzzle up. “They’ll kill each other!”